Can You Replant a Croton Branch?

Use branches from your croton to grow new plants.

Propagating a croton plant (Codiaeum variegatum) is as simple as taking a cut or broken branch and replanting it. Croton plants, and many other perennials and woody shrubs, have cells in the leaf nodes that develop roots in the right environment. Crotons grow outdoors in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9b through 11, depending on the variety.

Tip Cuttings

Use tip cuttings to propagate crotons. A tip cuttings is a 3- to 6-inch branch tip taken from an actively growing croton bush. Select branch tips that have three to five leaves at the top. Use a pair of clean, sharp pruning shears when cutting branches for rooting and make the cuts at 45-degree angles. You can take and root croton branches any time during the growing season. Just look for stems that are starting to turn from green to slightly woody.

Rooting Process

Use a combination of equal parts perlite and peat moss or vermiculite and peat moss to root croton cuttings, or buy a soilless rooting medium. Croton branches take about four weeks to develop new roots. Keep the soil between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit during the rooting process and water when it starts to dry out. You can also put the cutting in a clear jar of water at 70 to 80 F until roots form. This is a good way to monitor root development.

Transplanting

Transplant rooted croton branches after four to 12 weeks. You can transplant the cuttings into 4-gallon nursery pots filled with potting soil, or plant the cuttings directly into the garden. Plant crotons in areas that get filtered sunlight or in a partly shaded spot. Provide the plants with 1 inch of water a week during dry weather. If it's rainy, water only when the rainfall drops below 1 inch a week.

Crotons Outdoors

Croton cultivars have leaves ranging from fiery orange, yellow and red, to speckled green and yellow. The small white, puffy flowers are not the focal point on a croton, so pick a variety that has the leaf pattern you like. When planting most croton varieties, a spot in the shade is best for leaf color development, but for a full sun variety, try "Mamey." The flame-colored leaves grow in yellow, green and red all on the same shrub. This variety is hardy in USDA zones 9b through 11.

About the Author

Eulalia Palomo has been a professional writer since 2009. Prior to taking up writing full time she has worked as a landscape artist and organic gardener. Palomo holds a Bachelor of Arts in liberal studies from Boston University. She travels widely and has spent over six years living abroad.